EU Competition Law in Legal and Historical Perspectives

This project on EU Competition Law in Legal and Historical Perspectives (EULAH) is the result of a cooperation between the European University Institute and the University of Mannheim. As one of the very first in its kind, it brings together lawyers and historians in the field of EU studies and fosters interdisciplinary cooperation.

Between historians and EU lawyers, the perception of the relevance of EU competition law for European integration diverges. For EU lawyers, EU competition law has played a central role in European integration. Most historians have focused on other issues of European integration. Beyond a small (but rising) specialized literature, competition law has hardly influenced general accounts of EU history. Why is this so? What is it that, from a lawyer’s perspective, makes competition law so essential for the evolution of the EU? Why have most historians not shared this view so far?

Objective

This project encourages lawyers and historians to team up and engage in close dialogue and cooperation where they focus mainly on the evolution of competition law and policy until the mid-1980s, i.e. until the start of the debates about a “more economic approach” and the resulting shifts in competition policy. There are six teams composed of one lawyer and one historian where the final outcome of the project will be an edited volume with contributions of each team.

This Project is jointly run by Professor Kiran Patel (EUI) and Professor Heike Schweitzer (University of Mannheim). For any further information, please contact the Project’s secretary Mia Saugman.